10.04.2007

I carted my tired ass (and yes, the rest of me as well) out of bed at 5am to let the hacking dog out…and then found it difficult to go back to sleep. I ended up getting up for the day at that forsaken early hour – for no good reason I can think of. I hate that.

Ooooh – some news of substance coming your way:I went to the cardiologist this morning for a stress echocardiogram. It was fun, in a fucked up sort of way.I got to RUN!!!However, I also found out what horrible shape I am in. They took pictures of my heart.Then they had me run on an increasing speed and incline treadmill. My heart rate hit 150 around 9 minutes.50 seconds later and at a heart rate of 162 my lungs were burning and I was allowed to stop. 9 minutes and 50 seconds.OH DEAR GOD.I have run marathons…not fast but I could certainly beat 10 minutes on a bad training day. Sad.Just oh so sad.

The overall diagnosis was “your heart looks fantastic, especially compared to when we saw you last time and back in the hospital – keep taking your medicines and see you in a year” and that was that. He also said that I should NOT be running any road races or half marathons. Possibly ever.Ummm, yeah.What sense does that make?None that I could think of, so I asked for clarification – stating that the key was to keep my heart rate below 150. He agreed, but still didn’t want to budge on the running thing.

The second we were out in the hall I announced to my husband that I was not going to be listening to the last little bit of advice, but would be buying a heart monitor to wear while running. I will wear it while running the 5k, 10k, ½ marathon and marathon I plan to run. I will not stop running, but will monitor my heart and watch for signs of stress. He didn’t argue and actually agreed with my self-diagnosis…which was nice.

So – the only other doctor to see now is the pulmanologist and that is scheduled for next Monday.I will then be cleared to work and hopefully to exercise as I see fit. That…makes me happy.